A Test Of Their Metal

Five Coast Guard Heroes Honored For Saving Lives.

The five heroes stood at attention on Thursday morning, surrounded by fellow members of the Coast Guard in navy blue uniforms and the red, white and blue colors of the American flag.

Each of the five was ordered to receive due notice from high-ranking officials in the government they serve. One after the other, they raised their right hands in salute, then extended them to receive medals for saving the lives of nine people after a boat collided with a barge at the 17th Street Causeway last month.

With each medal came a wide smile.

Frank Mauro, an auxiliary with the Coast Guard Station who rescued four of the nine passengers, received the highest honor: a gold life-saving medal held by only 668 other Americans since it was established by Congress in 1874.

"One of the things we pride ourselves in is teamwork," Rear Adm. John Lockwood said at the awards ceremony at the Port Everglades Coast Guard base. "That teamwork was brought into very sharp focus here in Fort Lauderdale seven weeks ago. Selfless heroism saved the lives of nine people on that day."

Mauro was among the five crew members aboard Coast Guard Utility Boat 41351 on Aug. 6 when a rented 25-foot Bayliner carrying 11 people slammed into a barge at the 17th Causeway bridge. Two German tourists were killed and a woman from Ohio was injured.

But Mauro and the other four Coast Guard crew members who were on patrol that day were able to pluck nine others to safety after a battle with choppy waters and strong currents.

The others receiving medals were petty officers Matthew Goodnow of Plantation; Dwight Hagins and Richard Young, who live at the Coast Guard Station in Fort Lauderdale; and Tammy McClendon, who was recently transferred to a station in Virginia.

Deputy U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mortimer Downey commended the crew, calling them heroes and saying the passengers aboard the wrecked boat depended on them to survive.

"Almost all of them certainly would have died," Downey told the crew. "Swift, decisive action saved nine lives.